January 16, 2015

Another week has come and gone, and I would like to share my sketchbook with you again. I promise I will write about other things this year, but so far, this is the most interesting thing I have going on! We've had a solid week of rain, no sun, and I have been cleaning closets and doing the new years organizational thing. My charity donation bags are hardly worth a photo! The page above is a vintage Valentine, and below is a sketch of a fork...

an old chalkware angel, in a quick sketch before being packed away with Christmas...

a little ceramic squirrel figurine that belongs to my daughter...

This may be my favorite of the week...I saw this photo of a rose on Instagram, and I am happy with the way it turned out. I have learned this week, that I like my paintings much better when I do a quick sketch in pencil first. It helps me with proportion, and the end result is better. I suppose I should try and be more relaxed about making mistakes (I make plenty), but this is all just practice.

My final page for the week is a section of vintage wallpaper that was in the dining room at the farm when I bought it. It was (is) such a beautiful paper, and I salvaged every scrap of it I could when we restored the room.

We will be spending some time at the farm this weekend, and we may have some sun:) I will have updated pictures of the renovation progress soon!

January 08, 2015

One of my "resolutions" this year is to try to make a little time each day to be creative. 30 minutes a day, for guilt free happy play time. Its been a very long time since I have done this, and it feels great! I signed up for an online class by MARY ANN MOSS, called SKETCHBOOKERY, and I am trying my hand at watercolors, and quick 30 minute pages. Needless to say, I am not a watercolor artist, and it would take WAY longer than 30 minutes for me to create a masterpiece (ha). Being a bit of a perfectionist, I am pretty critical of my work. I am trying to let go, and enjoy the process, and LEARN from my practice and mistakes. Here is my first weeks work..quick 30 minute journal pages with inexpensive watercolors and a micron pen. In some cases, I have added my inspiration. The "2015" above was inspired by Pam Garrison. Day 2, below, was a 1968 Garden book...

Day 3, a dish from an estate sale...

day 4, a photo from Instagram...

day 5, a little rooster figurine...

day 6, an Andy Warhol postcard of Butterflies...

day 7, just playing with mixing paint colors from a set of tube watercolors...

January 01, 2015

Just popping in to wish you all a very Happy New Year! Life has been busy this past year, and my blogging was neglected. My hope for 2015 is to catch up and document life through blogging once again. Nothing fancy, just genuine and real...I wonder if anyone still wants to hear that?:) Anyway...it is my way of recording memories, and I have missed it. So, here's to 2015, and a fresh beginning...wishing you all the very best!

October 29, 2014

I got married this past Saturday, October 25, 2014. He and I have been friends and neighbors for 24 years. We raised our children together, and have all the same friends. I couldn't ask for a more perfect fit to my life, and I feel so very blessed. Our wedding day was absolutely perfect...lovely weather, delicious food, and surrounded by the love our our family and closest friends.

After the ceremony we had cocktails, then dinner and a bonfire. Appetizers were served from the tailgate of my 1959 Chevrolet truck...

My daughter arranged all the flowers for the tables, and my neighbor Janie made my bouquet. The week of the wedding I bought flowers everywhere I went-the grocery store, Costco, and the farmers Market. On the day of the wedding, we walked the fields and pastures of the farm and clipped berries and greens to add to the arrangements. I used all my mismatched vintage tableware that I have collected for years, to set the tables: floral china, silver, linen napkins and glasses. (and TONS of candles)

We cleaned and decorated the barn for weeks...

We moved in furniture for a lounge area...

and had a bar built out of an old door from the house, and wood from the barn...

My siblings were there...

and my children...

My fabulous photographer, Katie Evans, did a mini engagement photo shoot with my son and his fiancé, before the wedding...

It was a wonderful weekend, filled with much love and laughter and memories.

July 24, 2014

A few glimpses of the month of July, before it is over! The sweet "peaches and cream" corn was ready to harvest...

The day after I picked corn, the wild hogs came in and destroyed the field and ate everything that was left:(

My neighbor Janie grows heirloom tomatoes, and invited us to her annual tomato tasting party. There were so many tomatoes, and the most delicious food, and homemade cakes and pies. I was able to meet so many lovely folks that live here in our little town. It was a fabulous evening!

Janie also grows blueberries...88 huge bushes full! We picked berries and took them home and ate them for breakfast the next day.

Lots of flowers are blooming...the one on the right is called "Rose of Sharon". I didn't know the name, so I posted the picture on Instagram, and several friends identified it for me:)

I had the dirt floor in the big barn leveled out with a backhoe, then had a cement floor poured. This will be a great usable space for events and parties.

We still need to do a bit of fixing up out here, and run water and power, but that is low on the priority list! Here is my daughter and her puppy setting up for a cookout on the 4th...

There's lots happening with the house too...slowly but surely it is all coming together!

June 29, 2014

Yesterday, before we cut the lawn, I cut some weeds (Queen Anne's Lace) and arranged them in a vintage blue Ball jar...some of the other plants were trimmed back as well...

We did not cut the Passionflower vines...the flowers are food for the bumblebees and the fruit, called Maypop, serves as a host for many butterflies. Besides, it's so beautiful and exotic...

There are hundreds of watermelons growing in the field...

The corn continues to grow...

I have a new riding lawnmower, and now cutting grass is fun!

A new roof is being put on the house...black metal...it looks SO nice! The farmhouse originally had a metal roof, but it was replaced with a shingle roof years ago. The shingle roof was in bad shape and had started to leak, so we decided to go back with the original style of the house, and do a metal roof.

It was ONE YEAR ago that I purchased this farm. So many things have been accomplished and completed, and there is still more to do. I guess there will always be SOMETHING to do, but the big projects are winding down. Of course my biggest project, the kitchen, hasn't even begun! Oh well, maybe next year for that...

June 17, 2014

It's been a month since I've posted, and summer is in full swing. We had a family gathering at the farm when my parents were in town for Memorial Day, I took a trip to see my son in Louisiana, and spent a weekend in Kansas with some crafty girlfriends. I'm having a new roof put on the farmhouse starting tomorrow, and that's about all the excitement around here:) Here are a few photos from my phone, pardon the quality... my corn is growing...

May 13, 2014

After months of working on the house, it was time to do a little work on the yard. This old house needed some serious curb appeal. Here it is at the end of last June when I bought it:

Cutting the lawn was a huge improvement!...

There were MONTHS of rebuilding the huge wrap around porch. Everything needed to be jacked up and rebuilt. All 16 columns were rebuilt with custom millwork to match the original columns.

A landscaping crew came in and removed all of the old plantings...

and I scraped grey paint off of the brick foundation...

Plants were installed, some with a crane, because they were so large. Everything planted in the front of the house is evergreen, so it will look nice all year long. Plants that lose their foliage (all my roses and perennials) are in the back.

The porch ceiling was painted blue...

before and after...

Now that Spring has arrived, and things are starting to bloom...

The house is looking better and better. Now when I drive in the driveway, it feels like "home", not just a project.

May 03, 2014

This is my first Spring here at the farm, as I purchased it at the end of June last year. I am still in the discovery stage of all the plants and trees and wildlife here, and am constantly amazed with something new. I am also a bit overwhelmed with how FAST everything is growing! It seems as if one day the ground was sleeping, and the next day it is running wild! The good news is, that everything I have planted is growing very well.

I've planted roses in several locations, hydrangeas, peonies, azaleas and dozens of perennials. Color and placement were a huge consideration...pinks, purples and white against the grey weathered siding of the barn, giant yellow sunflowers against the rusty metal siding of another barn (the one shown above). My neighbor Frank has plowed 6 or 7 acres in the far pasture and is planting corn, watermelons and cantaloupe. He has also plowed me an area to grow heirloom pumpkins and gourds. I'm letting him grow on this spot of my land (and I get all the corn and melons I want), and he does mowing and tractor work for me. Bartering land for services, and we both are happy.

Frank is becoming a good friend, he's a wealth of knowledge about all things farming, and has been a huge help to me. Although he did kill a 40" snake one morning, and left it for me to find and scare me...

Thank goodness my carpenters found it before I did...although they also saved it, but only to show me, not scare me. My son told me it was a corn snake and non-poisonous, but it was still a SNAKE, so no thank you.

This past winter we had a huge ice storm, and several large trees fell into my lake, pulling away part of the dam with their root system. Frank, and a friend of his, came over with their tractors and cleared and removed all of the trees along the lake side of the dam, and reinforced the dam. I called him a lifesaver, he said he was just being a good neighbor. A good neighbor indeed!

In other news, the beadboard ceiling on the porch has all been repaired/replaced...

and is finally being painted blue!

Inside, I have removed all of the dining room wallpaper, and the walls are being replastered and prepared for painting.

The to-do list around here never seems to get any shorter...one thing gets crossed off and three more get added, but I'm having fun and enjoying the process!